"Where you been?" was all the text message said. But it meant much more. A dealer had a new stash. He was nearby and ready to deliver.

"Had some bad Chinese food" is another text message that seemed innocuous to a parent. But to her teenage son it meant someone has a bad batch of heroin and should be avoided.

On Facebook, the messages can be even more explicit, letting buyers know exactly what's available and where.

"The beauty of the internet," sighed Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi. "At a push of a button, there could be distribution schemes that are occurring and people being able to get it."

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This January will mark three years since New Jersey passed a medical marijuana law. But to this day, not a single patient has received the legal protections intended by the law or safe access to medical cannabis.

It's time for Gov. Chris Christie to stop making excuses and start working to ensure that New Jersey's medical marijuana program becomes operational.

The latest round of permit issues, again delaying the opening of the Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair (which hopes to be the state's first legal provider of the medicine), is nothing more than smoke and mirrors from an administration caught in the draconian ideology of reefer madness.

Patients must be put before politics.

Eric Hafner

Toms River

[end]

Swimming Upstream

I found myself engaged in several conversations this week concerning the "War on Drugs" and the residual effects it has on various aspects of our society, and I discovered that many of the people I spoke with had very little -- if any -- knowledge about the subject. Even worse, those who actually had something to contribute to the discussion often seemed to simply regurgitate wildly inaccurate and dangerously propagandistic "facts" that I suspect they picked up from scattered mainstream news broadcasts or their child's DARE pamphlets from the 1990s. In order to prevent the continued spread of these misunderstandings and to keep them from being propagated throughout the population during a crucial election year, I decided to do some research to find out the truth about the impact of the "War on Drugs."

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I just saw an article regarding 50 arrests that had been made in Camden in response to the tragic deaths of local children at the hands of a person under the influence of PCP-adulterated marijuana.

I wish someone with the required knowledge to do so would add up just how much these 50 arrests will cost our strapped economy.

Let's see, there are the costs to pay the investigating detectives; the salaries of the police officers making these arrests; the costs of booking suspects; the costs of housing those who cannot make bail; the costs of paying prosecutors, judges and court personnel; the costs of public defenders for those who cannot afford lawyers; the costs of prison sentences; the costs of probation and parole, and whatever else there is.

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I'm a lazy anti-authoritarian. Instead of fighting against the Man, I just kind of smile and side-step and pretend to be looking at a pebble on the ground when the Man approaches.

But make no mistake: I don't like the Man. Don't want to be the Man, either. Not only do I hate being told what to do, I equally hate telling others what to do. I'd be an anarchist, except that just seems too messy. I guess I'm a Libertarian, but an arch conservative within that movement. More or less.

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The state's first medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to open in Montclair this month, but some physicians registered with the program aren't participating or won't accept new patients.

Statewide, 165 doctors have registered and 134 patients have signed up or are in the process of becoming eligible for prescriptions to ease the pain associated with cancer, multiple sclerosis and other serious or terminal illnesses, state health officials said.

The Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair will open as soon as it receives final approvals from local authorities and the state, which it expects within two weeks, said Joseph Stevens, the center's president and chief executive officer. The dispensary will open on Bloomfield Avenue, a bustling hub of restaurants, a concert venue and women's health center.

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Forty years ago, the United States locked up fewer than 200 of every 100,000 Americans. Then President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs. Now we lock up more of our people than any other country -- more even than the authoritarian regimes in Russia and China.

A war on drugs -- on people, that is -- is unworthy of a country that claims to be free.

Unfortunately, this outrage probably won't be discussed in Tampa or Charlotte.

The media (including Fox News) run frightening stories about Mexican cocaine cartels and marijuana gangs. Few of my colleagues stop to think that this is a consequence of the war, that decriminalization would end the violence. There are no wine "cartels" or beer "gangs." No one "smuggles" liquor. Liquor dealers are called "businesses," not gangs, and they "ship" products instead of "smuggling" them. They settle disputes with lawyers rather than guns.

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TEWKSBURY TWP. -- Only a handful of patients initially signed up for New Jersey's medical marijuana program. Township resident David Barnes, who qualifies for the program due to a debilitating digestive disorder, was not one of them, despite his desire to participate.

In the past year, while waiting for the program to begin, Barnes has been to the emergency room four times after experiencing seizures. Meanwhile, his doctor of more than 15 years -- who signed up a year ago with the physicians' registry -- experienced his own health problems and was forced to retire from practicing medicine.

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The implementation of New Jersey's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act is long overdue ("Patient registry for medical pot gets under way -- First of Jersey's six dispensaries to open in Montclair next month," Aug. 9).

While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and it helps him or her feel better, then it's working. In the end, medical marijuana is a quality-of-life decision best left to patients and their doctors.

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With every good act, there is room for mischief.

Marijuana is about to be sold legally to New Jerseyans for medical reasons only, to ease the pain and distress of the ailing, most of them elderly.

But now the trick will be to keep everyone else from jumping in for a share of the most widely used drug in the country, if not the coffee shops of the Netherlands.

One of the things the Olympics taught us is that drugs power some athletes, and that marijuana in particular is in widespread recreational use, even if it plays no role in helping the athlete.

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MOUNT HOLLY -- The fate of medical marijuana patient NJWeedman will now be in the hands of a second Burlington County jury this fall after a Superior Court judge Tuesday morning denied the activist's motion for acquittal on a drug distribution charge stemming from a 2010 arrest.

Ed Forchion, who claims dual residency in Pemberton Township and Los Angeles, is excited to get another day in court to bring his case before a new jury. He tried unsuccessfully to withdraw the motion for acquittal before Tuesday's hearing, but Judge Charles Delehey heard oral arguments anyway, saying "enough is enough of Mr. Forchion's nonsense."

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Regarding "Glacial progress" (Editorial, Aug. 11):

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be fully legal and there would be no medical marijuana debate. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.

Marijuana can be harmful, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive. Americans in great numbers did not begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

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Closing in on three years since the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was signed into law, New Jersey is finally moving toward the day when that compassion actually will be expended. Last week, the state launched the registration process for patients to become eligible for prescriptions of marijuana to ease their suffering from conditions such as Lou Gehrig's disease, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and cancer.

Any lingering doubt that recreational drug users might be able to infiltrate the state system should be allayed by the rigors of the system set out by the state Department of Health.

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Two Sussex County doctors are now able to register their patients for the state's medical marijuana program, according to the state Department of Health.

Dr. Bernard Weintraub and Dr. Sami Yasin, both practicing in Sussex County, are two of nearly 150 physicians in the state who as of Thursday could begin signing up their patients through a registry system for medical marijuana.

The state announced that this registry system is the first step in qualified patients and their caregivers receiving an identification card, which can then be used in the coming months when medical marijuana becomes available at certified dispensaries.

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THERE finally is a small ray of sunshine for New Jersey residents suffering from such awful ailments as cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and muscular dystrophy. Almost three years after it was approved, medical marijuana may become available to patients next month.

The state Health Department this week announced that patients who qualify for the drug can begin registering to get it on the "Medicinal Marijuana Program" page on the department's website. The registry will help connect patients with an estimated 150 doctors who have signed up with the state to dispense marijuana. As of Friday, 28 physicians in Bergen County and eight in Passaic County are participating.

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More than two years after New Jersey legislators passed a law allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana, patients qualified to receive the drug may register for identification cards beginning Thursday.

That doesn't mean they will soon receive a prescription for cannabis.

The state Department of Health has granted preliminary approval to just six nonprofit marijuana dispensaries, and only one is expected to have the drug available by next month.

The Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair, Essex County, announced a few months ago that it would likely harvest a crop in September, but it has not received final approval to sell the drug to patients.

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CAMDEN -- Five men have emerged as symbols of the worst excesses by a squad of rogue cops whose misconduct has spawned dozens of lawsuits against the city.

There's Ron Mills, who weighs more than 300 pounds and walks with a cane. He spent nine months in prison after allegedly discarding drugs while outrunning police.

And Kenneth Pitts, who was jailed for 11 months and a day after a 2008 arrest for an alleged drug deal he said never happened. The Lawnside man contends he was arrested while bringing groceries to a friend's house in Camden after serving as a chaperone for a youth group.

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It was hard reading Assemblyman Declan J. O'Scanlon Jr.'s July 20 commentary, , "Medical marijuana: the facts," with a subtitle stating that the "Christie administration has been responsive on (the) issue."

First, the Christie administration has never responded to any potential medical marijuana patients or organizations that advocate for medical marijuana in regard to their specific concerns about the program's regulations, many of which were added on after the bill was signed into law over 2 1/2 years ago.

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I read with interest Assemblyman Declan J. O'Scanlon Jr.'s telling missive, "Medical marijuana: the facts," July 20.

A harsh reality for our state's medical marijuana patients is that they are still on the drug war battlefield despite a New Jersey medical marijuana law that is supposed to serve their needs.

Imagine if we had to procure medications from the street, or worse yet, manufacture them? Most remember John Ray Wilson, a Franklin Township multiple sclerosis patient who grew marijuana as his medicine and was met with the full force of prosecutors from Trenton. He went to prison, as do other patients. It might be best to divert our sick and most vulnerable from the criminal system.

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Regarding Assemblyman Declan J. O'Scanlon Jr.'s July 20 commentary, "Medical marijuana: the facts," not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated.

Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't I.D. for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences.

Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

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